The Toronto Zoo confirmed Thursday that their 23-year-old Masai giraffe, Twiga, gave birth to a baby girl.

The calf’s father, 21-year-old Stripes, died Sept. 29 last year.

Maria Franke, the zoo’s curator of mammals, says the Toronto Zoo is part of the Masai Giraffe Species Survival Plan program and “the birth of the calf is very important to the North American captive population.”

This is the 17th Masai calf born at the Toronto Zoo.

According to the International Union for Conservation and Nature, giraffe populations are at the level of least concern to conservationists, but due to environmental changes, habitat destruction and poaching, they are climbing higher on the list of concerns.

Giraffes are the world’s tallest animals, standing at up to 6.1 metres high, and an adult giraffe heart can weigh up to 11.5 kilograms.

Mother giraffes give birth standing, and the calves, typically 2 metres tall at birth, have to fall about 1.6 metres when they’re born.

Giraffes have a particularly strong kick that, in the wild, can fend off even lions.

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